Former FIFA referee Erich Linemayr, one of the best referees of Austrian football history, died at the age of 83, announced ÖFB. Linemayr refereed at the FIFA World Cup finals in Germany 1974 and Argentina 1978, the 1980 European Championship in Italy, UEFA Cup finals 1973 and 1977, European Cup final 1979.

In 1974, he led the legendary "water fight" between Germany and Poland, in Frankfurt’s Waldstadion. The game decided the finalists, as both teams had won their first matches in the second round. A downpour had flooded with water the pitch before kick-off, but the schedule of the tournament did not provide for the possibility of a change. The field was almost not playable, but Linemayr had to start the match. Large pools of water affected the technically superior style of Poland and Germany won 1-0. Excessive rain seemed to be a bit of fate for Linemayr. In 1973, he had to cancel the first leg of the final of the UEFA Cup between Liverpool and Mönchengladbach. In Anfield the water was standing ankle-deep.

The most bizarre moment in the career of Linemayr occurred on 21 November 1973. On that day it was scheduled the second leg of the World Cup qualifier between Chile and the USSR in Santiago de Chile. However, political reasons did not allow the Soviet team to show up. So, the eleven Chilean players found alone on the nearly empty stadium. Linemayr blew the first whistle, a Chilean put the ball into the goal and then Linemayr ended the game. Chile went to the World Cup.

Linemayr started refereeing in 1963 and became a FIFA referee after only 3 years (1966). During his career, Linemayr refereed 52 European Cup matches, including three finals, and a total of 30 international A matches. In 1981, he had to end his career on grounds of age, but Linemayr continued for years as a referee observer, including at the UEFA level.

At their recent meeting, the UEFA Referees Committee made two changes on the men’s list, demoting Ivan Bebek (CRO, photo) from Elite to First Category and Arnold Hunter (NIR) from First to Second Category.

Andrei Zhukov, the Head of the Referee Department in Belarus, was arrested on suspicion of committing a crime under Part 1 st.430 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (“Taking a bribe”). He was arrested at work and police officers carried out urgent investigative actions. Zhukov (photo) is in a temporary detention facility.

The police have also detained the coach of FC Smarhon and ex-player of Belarus national football team Mikalai Ryndzyuk and referee Andrei Saroka, Pressball reports. Referee Andrei Saroka was released later, but he is refusing to comment on the situation. According to information obtained by Pressball, the detentions are connected with illegal betting.

Fourth official at this season's UEFA Champions League final, Hungary's Viktor Kassai will officiate at Friday's UEFA Euro 2016 opener between France and Romania. Kassai's most prestigious appointment to date is his posting for the 2011 UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United. Last month he was fourth official at the 2016 decider in Milan.

According to a FFF video showing the final preparations of the French referee team for Euro 2016, assistant referee Nicolas Danos (photo), who got injured before the French Cup final, may be replaced by Cyril Gringore, if he will not recover in time. So far, UEFA replaced 2 assistant referees, Anton Averianov (RUS) and Martin Wilczek (CZE), and 1 additional assistant referee, Luca Banti (ITA).

Competitions in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands and the United States are the first to agree to the requirements drawn up by The IFAB and FIFA to participate in experiments with video assistant referees (VARs).

Organisers of the following competitions can now begin preparations in earnest for initial “offline” experiments and eventual “live” experiments:

- Australia: Hyundai A-League

- Brazil: several competitions under the umbrella of the CBF

- Germany: Bundesliga (as a combined project between the DFB and DFL)

- Netherlands: several competitions under the umbrella of the KNVB

- Portugal: Liga NOS, Portuguese Cup and Super Cup

- USA: Major League Soccer

Meanwhile, subject to the successful completion of initial tests, the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 is also set to be used as a final test event before The IFAB allows participants to conduct live experiments early next year.

An offline experiment represents a dry run whereby the VARs familiarise themselves with the setup, assess video replays and practice making calls on clear match-changing incidents but without communicating with the referee. This means there is no impact on the game, unlike during a live experiment when the match officials do communicate with each other and the referee can take decisions based on information provided by the VAR.

Live experiments will only begin once all participants have had time to complete the preparations, which is not expected before the beginning of 2017. However, The IFAB and FIFA may in the meantime choose selected friendly matches or competitions such as the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan in December, in which offline and/or live tests are conducted in order to improve the technological set-up and to help train participants, particularly with regard to communication between referees and VARs.

“The IFAB believes the best way to answer the question of whether the use of VARs will improve the game is to test it in different regions, so we are delighted to already have competitions across four confederations sign up,” said IFAB Secretary Lukas Brud. “The organisers of these competitions can now begin installing and testing video replay facilities as well as training match officials and technical staff in line with the protocol and in consultation with The IFAB and FIFA’s Football Technology Innovation Department.” Once The IFAB gives the green light for live tests to go ahead, each competition organiser can decide exactly when they will start in their respective events with the live trials. The IFAB remains in close contact with a number of other associations and leagues from all over the world those are eager to host the experiments. “There are others that are very interested but need to hold further consultations with their key stakeholders and with different technology providers. They still have time and we expect to be able to officially confirm additional participants in the coming months,” adds Brud.

The first workshop on VARs took place in the Netherlands in May and focused on providing interested competition organisers with information needed to make a decision on whether or not to participate. Additional workshops will take place in the coming months offering participants further detail about the experiments and procedures. The trials are expected to last two years with a subsequent decision by The IFAB potentially in 2018.

The group of referees appointed to officiate Copa America Centenario gathered in Chicago earlier this week to go through final preparation before taking on their first assignments at the tournament. Fifty-eight referees, assistant referees and reserve officials representing 18 nations across CONCACAF and CONMEBOL went through on-the-field exercises as well as classroom to prepare for game situations and other processes during the tournament.

"For us, we understand the referees’ teams are the same as the teams that are here to play”, said Copa America Centenario Referees Committee President Wilson Seneme. “We prepared these referees, not only with work in class, also on the field with the goal to train with players and game situations, so they are prepared to face real game situations later in the tournament.” With the unique nature of the tournament combining two confederations – CONMEBOL and CONCACAF – Seneme said the work done in Chicago earlier this week was all the more important to make sure all referees are on the same page. “We want to speak one single language: the rules of the game on the field,” he said. “We are gathered here to plan, adjust concepts, have consistency within both confederations and share criteria to do the best during games.” As the United States gets ready to welcome some of the world’s best players for Copa America Centenario, it will also welcome some of the world’s best officials, something Seneme hopes players realize as they kick off the tournament. “We want players to acknowledge there are great referees here,” he said. “We have World Cup referees, who are at the same level of these players. It is a great party, we are going to have great players, but referees are here to do their job. Aside from how important players are, the referees have to be very prepared”.